breweries

Wartime limits on beer production were imposed in March 1942, requiring breweries to reduce their output to two-thirds of previous levels. The resulting beer shortages led to widespread profiteering and black-marketing. Some hotel keepers diverted beer from public bars to lounge bars where it was sold at inflated prices. Others more unscrupulous withheld beer from their customers, and passed it on at greater profit to the black-market. Beer shortages also encouraged the illegal activity of home-brewing, and many home-brewers were convicted of making beer without a licence. Among them was a 66-year-old man who was found in 1941 at his house in Sydney with sugar, hops, malt, galvanised vats, and more than one-thousand bottles of beer. He copped a larger fine than most home-brewers of the time because he was selling his beer. The most enduring effect of war, insofar as beer in Australia is concerned, was probably its damaging effect on the image and reputation of the beverage. Second World War shortages and black-marketing set against the background of early closing of pubs, a First World War imposition, stigmatised beer, and especially its consumption in pubs. Through the immense up-welling of interest in beer which presently engulfs us, however, this damage is gradually and persistently being undone. Source: www.brewsnews.com.au/2012/07/17/beer-and-war-in-australia/

While two Bundaberg drink companies have stood the test of time – Bundaberg Rum and Bundaberg Brewed Drinks – they are just part of the Region’s drink manufacturing history that spans back nearly 150 years. In the late 1800s it was easier to make products locally than transport them from somewhere else. Our thriving sugarcane industry and fertile soil meant everything needed for a top-shelf beverage was at the manufacturers’ fingertips. It was around this time Austrian native, Gustav Steindl, expanded his operations to Bundaberg, after running a brewery with his brother in Maryborough. In 1883 Steindl established City Brewery Bundaberg near Baldwin Swamp, which had easy access to the spring water once available there. After selling the rights to City Brewery, Steindl established Bundaberg Brewery. The brewery was flooded in 1893 and moved to higher ground on the corner of Princess and Tomlinson Street (formerly known as Brewery Street) to new, larger premises. An arched gateway with ‘Bundaberg Brewery’ displayed in wrought iron overhead welcomed guests, and the front fence had a top rail for farmers to hitch their horses. Steindl sold pasteurized lager, bitter ale, light ale and stout in bulk. Bottled brandy and other spirits were sold under the Seppelt label and cordial under the O.T label. His effort and talent were rewarded with four medals at an 1894 Commonwealth brewing competition. After the mid 1900s, drink companies flourished in Bundaberg. A generation of families in the 1940s fell in love with cordial label Salters. John Salter took over the Bundaberg cordial manufacturer ‘Castles’ in 1940 and operated under that name for many years. In 1956, he built a new purpose-built ‘Salters Cordial Works’ on the corner of Walla and Woondooma Streets. Upstairs was an 1800-square-foot syrup room. The factory capped its last bottle in 1982 but the iconic building remains part of the central Bundaberg streetscape. Source: www.crushmagazine.com.au/call-me-old-fashioned/

"Fourex, The memory of the last bottle sells the beer in the next bottle of XXXX."

Thank you for the translation.

Victorian brothers Nicholas and Edward Fitzgerald bought the site of a failing distillery on Milton Road in 1877 and opened a brewery which they named Castlemaine after a brewery they already owned in Castlemaine, Victoria. The first beer was brewed there in 1878 and was named XXX Sparkling Ale. XXXX Bitter was introduced in 1924 after Castlemaine brewery employed a German brewer, Alhois William Leitner. Cartoon character Mr Fourex appeared in advertising at the same time. In 1928 Perkins brewing company was purchased by Castlemaine Brewing to form Castlemaine Perkins Limited. Castlemaine Perkins merged with Tooheys in 1980 to form Castlemaine Tooheys and the company was acquired by Alan Bond's Bondcorp in 1985 and taken over by Lion Nathan in 1990. XXXX Gold was introduced in 1991. In 2009 Japanese company Kirin Holdings assumed 100% ownership of Lion Nathan which was renamed Lion in 2011. Although the Milton Brewery has been in operation on the same site since 1877 much of the production of XXXX Bitter now takes place in the Tooheys brewery in Western Sydney and XXXX Gold is also produced in South Australia. Source: www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/castlemaine-perkins-brewery-histo...